Media365
NEW DELHI: England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat against India in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday.
India will be without star batter Virat Kohli, who is sidelined due to a “sore right knee,” but pacer Mohammed Shami makes his return to ODI cricket for the first time since India’s World Cup final against Australia on November 19.
Shami, India’s leading wicket-taker in the World Cup with 24 scalps, recently made his international comeback in the T20I series against England, which India won 4-1.
India also handed ODI debuts to young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and seamer Harshit Rana.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma presented the ODI cap to Yashasvi, while senior pacer Shami did the honours for Rana.
Yashasvi has already played 19 Tests and 23 T20Is for India, whereas Rana has featured in two Tests and one T20I.
“We wanted to bowl first, but it doesn’t matter a lot. Need to be aggressive with the ball at the start and then need to do well later. Nice to get some time off, it’s a fresh start and this is a great chance to do well. It’s very important to get some gametime, try and maximize whatever opportunity we have. Jaiswal and Harshit are making their debuts, unfortunately Virat isn’t playing, he had a knee problem last night,” Rohit said during the toss.
This is India’s first ODI since August 2024, when they suffered a 0-2 defeat in a three-match series against Sri Lanka.
